I think he's one of the most consistent film-makers in terms of quality (although recently not quantity). I particularly love his early work (The Last Wave, Picnic at Hanging Rock) He has an elegant cinematic style and gets excellent performances from his cast. I'd be interested to know others' opinions.

In the late 80's he made a few films (Green Card, Fearless) which in my opinion were more Studio Product than personal vision.

Green Card might be more middle of the road (and it has the detriment of featuring Andie McDowell), but I still think it's a more than worthwhile venture. Weir and Deapardu do a great job making what could be your standard Magical Foreigner character into a three dimensional human, and while I've heard some complain that the ending is cheesy, it's earned cheese in my opinion.

And yeah, Fearless is anything but Studio Product. Weir had some heavy duty themes on his mind when he made that one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratty

Is Dead Poet's Society still considered his one blockbuster? I seem to remember even Truman Show (when Carrey was at his height) seemed to underperform.

Truman Show was a grand slam, actually. It took a wonky premise and an untested Carrey in a straight role and was the sleeper hit of 1998's summer. It even de-throned Godzilla, which had only opened the previous weekend, and missed outgrossing it by a mere $10 million! So I'd consider it a pretty solid hit.

And while Master & Commander wasn't a monster, it grew legs during the awards season and has enjoyed a pretty lucrative home video run.

I found Williams' performance to be too forceful and aggressive, like I'm really, really supposed to admire him and his non-conformist views. I think the energy is supposed to be infectious, but it never quite works for me.

I did, however, like his interactions with the faculty. He calms down in those moments.

I'll admit it, I fell head over heels for DEAD POETS SOCIETY first time I saw it back in '89. But it was at just the right time in my life - I was fresh out of school, full of energy and ambition, yearning to be creative but unsure of the direction I should take or whether I even had the balls to try to express myself. (I identified like crazy with Ethan Hawke's character, which meant that I was a fucking wreck at the end of the film.) It spoke to me at that time in a way few movies have. Plus I had an English teacher very similar to John Keating when I was in my teens, so I responded to the story even more.

That said, I do recognise that there are aspects that some viewers could regard as a little precious or contrived, and Williams' riffing, while subdued, is a bit distracting. (Ratty's spot-on in saying that he's much better in the calmer moments.)

I remember reading an article stating that Liam Neeson - not an unknown at the time but certainly not as high-profile as he is now - gave a stellar audition performance for the Keating role. As much as I like Williams, I think Neeson would have absolutely ruled. (Also, Dustin Hoffman was reportedly attached for a while - I like to imagine his SIMPSONS performance is his take on Keating because that would have been lovely.)

Another thing about Williams, he plays smart and witty just fine, but I never quite believe he's as literate as an English teacher. The "What-if" scenario with Liam Neeson is interesting, and I think he would have been better suited to convey the learning and intelligence of a teacher (I guess that's obvious now, since he's portrayed a few teacher characters).

But this thread has sparked my interest in revisiting some Weir movies, so I might as well include Dead Poets. Maybe I'll view it more favorably now!

I need to see more of his Aussie films*. Weir is one of my favorite directors, but whenever I do a "list", he always seems to get left out. Mosquito Coast never ceases to amaze me, and Fearless is severely underrated. Master and Commander is the best naval warfare film I've seen. Modern or otherwise.

I've experienced a sort of Peter Weir renaissance in the last 6 years or so. I've always enjoyed Witness and The Mosquito Coast but I find his earlier work to be much more interesting on an esoteric and transcendental level. Both Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave are essential in this respect. I used to LOVE Fearless but a recent viewing of it left me a little jaded. It's just a little too saccharine and self-indulgent for my tastes. But then again, it's probably one of the best examples of Jeff Bridges being snubbed a well-deserved oscar. Instead, Rosie Perez wins for a screeching, histrionic performance.

OK, so just watched Year of Living Dangerously. This film SCREAMS for a remastered Blu Ray release....some of the scenes are just incredible.

Mel Gibson and Siguouney Weaver in a passionate romance...enuf said. Linda Hunt as male dwarf Billy Kwan steals the movie from everyone else. Michael Murphy must have been paid in Hams...really an over the top Ugly American performance BUT, watch the expression on his face whenever his in movie "audience" leaves him. The hurt and loss he expresses redeems an otherwise obnoxious performance. The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent.

This was the Young Mel and he really shines as a Romantic lead who's only slightly tortured (he takes a rifle butt to the eye). Damn what happened to that Mel?

This film got a lot of flack for trying for a "Casablanca" vibe which didn't jibe with the serious face of human misery that serves as the undercurrent of the story. To me that juxtaposition actually enhances the impact of the film. In the face of so much poverty and starvation, Billy's question "what must we do" is actually answered by Weaver and Gibson's actions.

Having never seen this, I can only say: Interesting. Very, very interesting.

And she is amazing. It really makes you realize that there are so few good acting roles for those deemed "normal", when you have someone with a really unique and special talent like Ms Hunt it is heartbreaking to know there just aren't more than one or two good opportunities to shine in a movie career

Really glad to hear so much love for the man. My dad and I bonded over Witness (more specifically, over the joy of Kelly McGillis) when I was just a young pup. Gallipoli was another favourite of ours, Mel just burns in that film. Haven't seen The Way Back yet but really looking forward to it. His brand of intellectual film making is in short supply these days.

“The last time I spoke to him he was heading off to Germany to see if he could get it financed,” says Boyd. “It’s pretty unlikely that I would do it. It would be shot in Germany and [with] all-German crew. I don’t speak the language and it would be very tough.”

Apparently Weir has been trying to get the film made at least as far back as 2012. The source material is not to be confused with another horror novel with the same name that was the basis of the infamous 1983 Michael Mann film.

It’s acting I’ve never seen him do before or after. It’s truly an eccentric character but one that was tailored to him. I really enjoyed his performance. Also, it may be Weirs’ unconventional inspiration for Casting these actors in roles that wouldn’t typically go to them that really helps, like Carrey in The Truman Show. Though that one in particularly initially seems logical from the outset, you do see as the movie progresses you the depths that Weir had to entrust Carrey with.

It’s acting I’ve never seen him do before or after. It’s truly an eccentric character but one that was tailored to him. I really enjoyed his performance. Also, it may be Weirs’ unconventional inspiration for Casting these actors in roles that wouldn’t typically go to them that really helps, like Carrey in The Truman Show. Though that one in particularly initially seems logical from the outset, you do see as the movie progresses you the depths that Weir had to entrust Carrey with.

Yeah it's great but also frustrating to see Ford act like that, and never do it again.

With Carrey I had the since even when Truman Show came out that he wanted to make that transition to serious roles, and this was a good bridge.

There's another one who imo has never reached his potential.

By the way, I'll put in a good word for The Way Back. If that ends up being Weir's last film, it's a great one to go out on.

Fearless is one of my favorite movies ever, while Gallipoli, Living Dangerously, Witness, Master & Commander, and Mosquito Coast are all top shelf. Having said that, caught The Way Back on cable a few years ago and it didn't do much for me. There were some fantastic individual scenes, Ed Harris and Jim Sturgess (of all people... he's about to achieve superstardom in Geostorm this weekend!) were quite good. But the sum of the movie's parts do no equal the whole in this case.

The "good" news about MASTER AND COMMANDER not getting a sequel is that it sounds like Weir wouldn't have been interested in doing it anyway. Still, the fact that this world has not been revisited by any director is the single biggest missed opportunity in all of sequeldom.

Fearless is one of my favorite movies ever, while Gallipoli, Living Dangerously, Witness, Master & Commander, and Mosquito Coast are all top shelf. Having said that, caught The Way Back on cable a few years ago and it didn't do much for me. There were some fantastic individual scenes, Ed Harris and Jim Sturgess (of all people... he's about to achieve superstardom in Geostorm this weekend!) were quite good. But the sum of the movie's parts do no equal the whole in this case.